Fall of the Assassin follows Haiku as memories of survival, Shinobi training, love, and danger collide, transforming her assassin origin story into a lush, violent, and intimate tale of mastery, desire, and destiny. What was most important to you when shaping Haiku’s origin story?

That she be able to navigate the extreme mental, physical, and emotional pressures placed on her and not emerge as a psychotic killing machine. She had to somehow retain a childlike innocence, a sense of hope that one day the gods would smile on her and bestow that most precious of gifts – love. But this is so deeply buried that not even she is aware of it.

The novel blends martial arts philosophy with metaphysical fantasy. How did you approach balancing physical discipline with spiritual or mystical ideas?​

I have studied martial arts for many years, so this was a natural and comfortable place to write from. The further you progress in the arts, the stranger things become. You see and are able to accomplish things that are fantastic and that are, to those who do not practice, impossible.

The Shinobi world feels layered with rituals, hierarchy, history, and violence. What inspired the culture and mythology behind it?​

This is purely made up and comes from years of reading, practicing martial arts, and thinking about how such an entity would be structured.

The ending leaves the door open in a dramatic and unusual way. What can readers expect next from Haiku and Charlie’s story?​

The ending leads directly into the world of SOLIPSUM, a book I have written under my own name. This relates to where Charlie goes. As to the other characters? There will be one more 7th and final book in the Dark Photography Folio, title yet unknown, but I have started writing it. Then comes the sequel to SOLIPSUM, tentatively titled CHARLIE. It will bring it all together.

Of further interest is the Dark Photography YouTube Channel. The channel features many of the characters from the books come to life. They talk about all sorts of things.